As the global competition in generative AI intensifies, the South Korean government is accelerating its AI industry policies. It seeks breakthroughs across multiple areas, including GPU resources, foundational models, semiconductors, data platforms, and talent systems to build a sovereign and competitive national AI ecosystem

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong recently marked his 1,000th day in office, a tenure that Korean media describes as filled with challenges and crises. Even though Lee officially took the chairman title only three years ago, he joined Samsung's General Affairs department in 1991 at age 23, meaning he's spent more than 30 years with Samsung

Japanese chip startup Rapidus has unveiled its first 2-nanometer chip prototype, marking a symbolic step toward its goal of mass production by 2027. The milestone comes just three months after EUV lithography equipment was installed at the company's IIM-1 fab in Hokkaido and three months after the company began trial production in April 2025

The surge in demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) driven by AI servers has positioned SK Hynix as the clear leader in the HBM market, with Micron also posting strong operational results for 2025. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics' HBM3E is still striving to secure Nvidia certification

Despite stricter AI chip export controls under the Trump administration, over US$1 billion worth of Nvidia's high-end GPUs have reportedly entered China through black-market channels in just three months, raising doubts about the efficacy of US trade restrictions

Renesas Electronics posted a net loss of JPY175.3 billion (approx. US$1.19 billion) in the first half of 2025, swinging from a JPY139.5 billion profit a year earlier. It was the Japanese chipmaker's first-half net loss in five years

Qualcomm is reportedly weighing a return to Samsung Foundry for its 2nm flagship smartphone SoCs in 2026, raising questions about a potential pivot from TSMC. Yet conflicting reports claim Samsung has already been removed from Qualcomm's approved foundry list, adding to the uncertainty

As China accelerates its drive for semiconductor self-reliance, DRAM memory has become a crucial yet understated battleground. SwaySure Technology, a relatively unknown company with international roots, is quietly positioning itself as a key force in China's push for homegrown memory solutions

ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet tempered the company's solid second quarter 2025 results with a warning: growth in 2026 is far from guaranteed. "While we still prepare for growth in 2026, we cannot confirm it at this stage," he said on the earnings call, prompting renewed scrutiny of end-market demand and chipmakers' appetite for capital equipment

Next-generation display technologies continue to grow, and South Korea is struggling to maintain its leadership in the Micro LED industry. It is extremely important for South Korea to secure original technologies from domestic materials, components, and equipment companies; a supportive ecosystem and cooperation system must be established

India and the UK have finalized a historic Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a move hailed by senior Indian leaders as a major stride toward strengthening bilateral trade ties. Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah lauded the agreement on X (Twitter), calling it a "landmark in global trade" and a testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "people-centric trade diplomacy." The pact is expected to open new market access across sectors, including agriculture, marine products, engineering, electronics, software, chemicals, and automobiles

China's continued investment in mature semiconductor foundry capacity has become a focal point in the industry. Many worry that China's mature process output could flood global markets, significantly impacting the chip ecosystem

China's open-source artificial intelligence sector has made significant new strides. Alibaba has updated its Qwen3 series of large language models, outperforming OpenAI GPT-4o, DeepSeek V3, and Moonshot AI's Kimi K2 models in mathematics and programming tests, drawing considerable attention from the AI development community